Trolley-wire support



E. A. SPERRY.

TROLLEY WIRE SUPPORT.

Patented Mar. 22, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER A. SPERRY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TROLLEY-WIRE SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,151, dated March 22, 1892. Application filed July 9, 1891. Serial No. 398,921. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELMER A. SPERRY, of the city of Chicago, countyof Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trolley-IV ire Supports, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

My improved trolley-wire support is particularly applicable to use in mines, where a trolley-wire is led through the entries and butt-entries, which are usually low and of restricted width. Heretofore in such places it has been customary to support the trolleywire by a clamp holding the wire and attached to a block, which in turn is secured to the roof of the entry in the mine. This method is objectionable, as it makes the points of support of the trolley-wire rigid and unyielding, while between the supports there is in the stretched wire a certain amount of flexibility, so that in the passage of the trolley-wheel along the wire it has an elastic contact with it between the points of support; but at such supports the contact becomes rigid, and this rigidity operates as a shock or blow to the trolley-wheel, whicl1.in case of high speed of the trolley-wheel along the wire is sometimes sufficient to throw the wheel entirely off the wire. To overcome this objection and to render the support of the trolleywire elastic under the contact of the trolleywheel is the object of myinvention, and I accomplish this object by the device shown in the drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved trolley-wire support transversely of the wire. Fig. 2 is a section and projection longitudinally of the wire, and Fig. 3 is a View of the wire-holding clamp separated from the supporting-block.

In the figures, A is a block, preferably of insulating material, such as porcelain, and is supported by the bolts B B, which may be screwed or driven into plugs inserted in the roof of the inine entry.

The block A is provided with a recess or depression in the center, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, over which is placed a diaphragm C, made of canvas or other suitable flexible material, and which is secured to the block bya ring D, through which pass the screws E E into the nuts 0 e, which are let into recesses in the upper side of the block, and over which are placed the shells ff, which prevent the vitreous or plastic insulation g g from entirely filling the recess, and which retains the nut e within the recess, while permitting the screw E to be withdrawn or inserted from below.

H is the trolley-wire and is secured within the split clamp I, the parts of which are held together, preferably, by the screws J J, attached to the clamps, and preferably integral therewith is the upwardly-projecting stem K, which touches the under side of the diaphragm C, and upon the upper side of which I preferably place the washer L. A bolt M secures the stem, clamp, and trolley-wire to the diaphragm C, which in turn is supported by the block A to the roof of the entry.

By the use of this device in practice I do away entirely with the shock and jump of the trolley-wheel in passing the supports and render its movement there as smooth as at other portions of the wire.

S is a depending lip surrounding the point of attachment between the diaphragm and the base-block and operates to prevent a moisture-contact along the surface of the baseblock from the diaphragm to the mine roof or support of the base-block.

The form shown in the drawings is that which I prefer to use in practice, although it is evident that it may be varied in detail. For instance, I might use rubber instead of the canvas or leather diaphragm, or I might use metal either as a diaphragm or as a flat strip, preferably supported at both ends, but even only at one end, or I might vary it in other ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent- 1. In an integral device for supporting a trolley-wire, a Wire-clamp, a portion designed to be secured to the supporting medium, and an elastic or yielding portion connecting the two, for the purpose specified.

2. In a trolley-wire support, a base-block or supporting-bracket, an elastic diaphragm at tached thereto and supported thereby, and connections securing the trolley-wire to the diaphragm.

3. In a trolley-wire support, the combination of a base-block having a recess therein, an elastic diaphragm stretched across said recess, and connections between the diaphragm and the trolley-wire for the support of the wire.

at. The combination'of a base-block A, having recesses therein, the screw E, the end of which protrudes into such recess, the shells f, covering the screw-threads, and the plastic or vitreous insulation g, placed above the cap f, substantially as shown,and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of a base-block A, having recesses therein, the diaphragm O, the screws E for holding such diaphragm, the ends of which protrude into such recesses, nuts 6 within such recesses, and protecting caps or shellsfover the end of the screw for shielding such screw from the plastic or vitreous insulation g.

6. In a trolley-wire support, the combination of a base-block, an elastic diaphragm secured thereto, and the stem K and clamp I, secured to the diaphragm and supporting the trolleywire. 7. In a trolley-wire support, the combination of a base-block having an elastic diaphragm secu red thereto, a bolt M, passing through the diaphragm,the stem K, and clamp I,substantially as shown, and for the purposes described.

S; In a trolley-wire support, the combination of a base-block, an elastic diaphragm attached thereto and supporting the trolley-wire, and

' a depending lip S on the base-block surrounding the point of attachment of the diaphragm to the base-block.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

ELMER A. SPERRY. Witnesses:

' A. M. I'IEYL,

WM. BUCKINGHAM. 

